Former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni has immense love for football as he used to play the game before shifting to cricket. The rest, as they say, is history. However, he hasn’t forgotten his first love, football, as he often warms up before the game with football sessions and that’s his way of staying connected with the Beautiful Game. Former Indian head coach, Ravi Shastri recalled an incident when he yelled at MS Dhoni for playing high-intensity football before an important game of cricket.

Ahead of Chennai Super Kings’ Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 game against SunRisers Hyderabad at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, MS Dhoni was spotted playing football as he warmed up to the game. Ravi Shastri, who was looking at the live visuals on television, recalled he was scared that Dhoni might pick up an injury seeing the intensity with which he was playing football ahead of a crunch contest against Pakistan.

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During a chat on Star Sports, Ravi Shastri recalled, “He loves football. It scares, the intensity he plays, you from the outside, you hope he doesn’t get injured. I remember before the Asia Cup final, there was dew, he went skidding five minutes before the toss. I’ve never yelled like that in my life, I said stop the game! You don’t want to lose your main player in a game against Pakistan, because five minutes later was the toss. But, to get him out, leave the football.”

MS Dhoni has been enjoying his time in the IPL despite retiring from international cricket in August 2020. The 40-year-old stepped down as captain of CSK, handing over the reins to Ravindra Jadeja ahead of IPL 2022.

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However, CSK, the defending champions, haven’t begun on the right note, slipping to their worst-ever start to a season. The 4-time champions, under Jadeja, had lost their first 4  matches of the new season as their last loss came against SRH on Saturday.